Tax breaks won’t help us meet province’s needs
Re: Premier favours using surpluses to cut taxes before election, Dec. 17
Premier Christy Clark’s latest sound bite about lowering taxes (“We trust you to figure out how to spend that money better than we can”) shows she either doesn’t understand how taxes work or she is intentionally trying to mislead.
Lowering my taxes by a couple hundred dollars a year leaves me with little advantage — it buys very little. But my $200 added to everyone else’s through the tax system can make sure my child’s school is adequately funded or provide home care for my aging mother. Together, our taxes create common services we can all rely on to be there when we need them.
Clark’s message aims to create distrust of government and fool people into thinking that they can replace government-funded services with their private purchases. Why does she want to be in government if she has such little respect for its key role to provide services for British Columbians?
Adrienne Montani, Vancouver Early last week, we learned from the seniors’ advocate that home support hours for seniors had dropped while the number of seniors needing it had risen. But at week’s end, Premier Clark hinted that with so much money in the provincial purse, she might give us all a tax cut. Huh?
Well, maybe Health Minister Terry Lake, whose ministry is supposed to be funding home support, will be able to extract more dollars from Ottawa. On the other hand, perhaps federal Health Minister Jane Philpott, who has been pressing the provinces to commit more money for home care, will tell Mr. Lake that if B.C. can afford to cut taxes, it surely doesn’t need any more money from her. Judy Lindsay, Vancouver
All the streets and bridges in the Lower Mainland are severely congested at all times of the day. Giving people a tax break will do nothing to address the huge cost of congestion, in lost hours sitting in traffic (both drivers and bus passengers) and in increased fuel usage and pollution.
The most pressing need for the region (and all the residents and business owners) is an immediate and significant investment in the transit system. Giving people back a few dollars in tax breaks may do wonders for the premier’s re-election plans, but will do nothing to help the beleaguered region.
Maureen Charron, Vancouver
Transit police chief clarifies comments
Re: Transit Police to get more Tasers, Dec. 22
I am writing to clarify my comments in Larry Pynn’s story. My references to when a Taser might be appropriate were regarding mentally ill individuals with weapons generally, and were not a comment on the shooting at the 29th Street Station. I do not know the facts of that incident, and as noted elsewhere in the story, even if I did I couldn’t comment because it is under investigation.
I want the officers involved to know that in no way was I second-guessing their actions, and I regret that the positioning of my comments and/or my failure to make my intent clear may have created this impression, causing upset to the officers involved and others at what I know is a very difficult time. This is the last thing I would ever want — I have the greatest admiration for front-line police officers, who willingly run into danger as others flee. Doug LePard, chief officer, Metro Vancouver Transit Police